Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Veteran pacer Arma Einstein returned to form with a vengeance last Friday night with a fast-finishing second to Heavenly Gipsy, and he has sound prospects of ending a losing sequence of 40 and a 26-month drought by winning the $31,000 Cash Converters Rotary Club Of Fremantle Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The gelding will again be driven by Maddison Brown, who won the feature Rotary Club event over 2536m 12 months ago when Diego, the $2.70 favourite, began speedily from the No. 5 barrier, dashed to the front after 250m and went on to beat $8.50 chance Wildwest by a half-length to give champion trainer Gary Hall Snr a quinella result.
Wildwest was driven by Stuart McDonald, who will handle the Hall-trained Skylou in Friday night’s race.
Brown will again line up in barrier No. 5 in this year’s Rotary Club event, this time with seven-year-old Arma Einstein, a veteran of 125 starts who is prepared by her father, astute Banjup trainer Colin Brown.
Arma Einstein put the writing on the wall last Friday night when he was the $126 rank outsider in a 2130m Free-For-All. Maddison Brown quickly manoeuvred the gelding to the inside, and he raced three back on the pegs in fifth position with Heavenly Gipsy setting a brisk pace.
Arma Einstein was badly hemmed in on the inside until he got into the clear 150m from the post. He moved to fourth at the 50m mark and charged home. He sprinted over the final 400m sections in 27.7sec. and 28.1sec.
Skylou, winner of the 2023 WA Derby, will have many admirers after drawing the prized No. 1 barrier. He has led and won a Gloucester Park mobile event and also led when he won the standing-start 2503m Easter Cup in March 2024.
He had no luck when seventh behind Heavenly Gipsy last Friday night. He settled down in the favourable one-out, one-back position before being shuffled back to last at the bell and was hampered for room in the final stages.
Ace Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice holds a strong hand in Friday night’s race in which he will be represented by Mighty Ronaldo and Rolling Fire.
Trent Wheeler will drive Mighty Ronaldo, who will begin from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line, with Kyle Symington in the sulky behind Rolling Fire, who will start from the outside of the back line.
Mighty Ronaldo overcame a wide draw (No. 7) to win the group 3 Winter Cup over 2536m last Friday week. He began speedily and enjoyed an ideal passage in the one-out, one-back position before finishing strongly to win by a length from Brickies Dream. Rolling Fire set a brisk pace and fought on gamely to finish fifth.
Champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond will be pinning their faith in Vegas Strip (barrier four) and Lusaka (barrier six), with Deni Roberts choosing to drive Lusaka, who impressed when he surged home from tenth at the bell to be fourth in the Winter Cup.
Tom Nally will drive four-year-old Vegas Strip, the youngest runner in the race who has won at eight of his 25 starts but has not been successful since leading in a 2242m event at Narrogin 15 starts ago, on July 27 last year.